


A Stupid Bet

by keitaiijima



Category: Battle Royale - All Media Types, Battle Royale - Takami Koushun
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25115308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keitaiijima/pseuds/keitaiijima
Summary: Hiroshi, Ryuhei and Mitsuru challenge each other to find out who has the best chance of scoring a date.
Relationships: Kuronaga Hiroshi/Yahagi Yoshimi, Numai Mitsuru/Kanai Izumi, Sasagawa Ryuhei/Utsumi Yukie
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	A Stupid Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Rated Teens and up for language.

“Honestly, honey. No wonder you’re still single,” Sho Tsukioka commented, half-disgusted and half-amused, as he watched Hiroshi Kuronaga eat an egg salad sandwich with the same tactfulness as a wild animal would devour a carcass. Pieces of food seemed to fly everywhere, and Sho had to carefully dodge out of the way from time to time to avoid getting any in his hair.  
“What? What’s wrong with me?!” Hiroshi asked whilst chewing with his mouth wide open, causing Sho to again have to block the flying pieces of food.  
“It’s not like any of you would have any chance with a girl without paying her anyway. Maybeee except Mitsuru-kun. But the rest-“  
“Oi, Zuki! What the fuck d’ya mean the rest? Ain’t that just me and Hiroshi?!” Ryuhei Sasagawa interjected, narrowing his eyes. The idea of being put into the same category as Hiroshi when it came to chances with girls was unbelievably insulting to him. “Ya can’t compare me to this midget?!”  
Hiroshi stuck his tongue out, showing off a large piece of egg resting on it. “Ha! C’mon, Ryu. If a chick had to choose between ya and me, they’d totally go for me! You’re so loud, you’re always kicking stuff, your _hair_ …”

Ryuhei ran a hand through his long, blonde hair, now looking more insulted than ever.  
“Shut up! Ain’t nothin’ wrong with my hair. And you’re loud too, when ya first start talkin’!”  
Listening to this argument, Mitsuru Numai rolled his eyes to Sho.  
“Why did ya have to start somethin’ like this? We’ll never hear the end of it,” he said with a small smile. As their gang’s leader, Kazuo Kiriyama, was absent that day, they had all known it would end with some ridiculous antics or argument. And it seemed like the topic was now decided.  
Sho shrugged, taking out a cigarette and placing it between his lips.  
“You know I liiiive for this. I’m gonna go have a cig, and the two of them better be involved in some ridiculous bet when I get back, sweetie!” he laughed, getting up to exit the cafeteria. Mitsuru would have joined him, but he was too worried to leave Ryuhei and Hiroshi alone when they were riling each other up.

Almost the second Sho left, his wish seemed to be coming true.  
“Okay, let’s make a bet then!” Hiroshi said, slamming his hands onto the table. “I dare ya to ask out any chick in our class, and I will do the same. Whoever scores a date first… Eh. Get’s a date. And the loser has to pay for it!” he suggested.  
Ryuhei squinted at him, considering this. “ _Any_ chick?” he repeated, clicking his tongue. Hiroshi seemed awfully confident that he could do this, which meant Ryuhei could not reveal he had any doubts that anyone would agree either. “Fine! I’m in!”  
Mitsuru watched them reach this agreement with a worried expression.  
“You’re not gonna bug any of them, are ya?” he sighed, glancing around the cafeteria as he found himself slightly nervous as to what poor, innocent girls would fall victims to this ridiculous dare.

Ryuhei and Hiroshi exchanged a glance, before simultaneously breaking out into wide smiles.  
“Y’know, Mitsuru,” Ryuhei said, leaning closer over the table. “It’s not like ya have ever had a date either…”  
“Yeah,” Hiroshi agreed. “It’d be cool to see ya try, too!”  
Mitsuru stared at them as if they were insane. “No fuckin’ way. I’m not embarrassin’ myself like this.”  
“Wow. Sounds like someone knows they’d lose,” Ryuhei said with a sigh, as Hiroshi nodded intently.  
Mitsuru huffed. “That won’t work, idiot. There’s no way I’m joinin’ your dumb bet.”

“Okay, well…” Ryuhei said, dragging out the words as he pretended to search around the cafeteria for someone to ask. In reality, he had already decided on someone, and the sole intention was to push Mitsuru’s buttons. “I guess I’ll go ask Kanai right now…”  
Mitsuru glared at him with a look that could have killed anyone.  
“Don’t ya fuckin’ dare –“  
“Why not? Not like you’re gonna! ‘Kay, I see her… Wish me luck!” Ryuhei said, grinning as he got up from his chair. Mitsuru got up just as quick, his face red.  
“Fuck you. I’ll do your stupid dare,” he said, his expression revealing that he was both annoyed and nervous. “Just… Stay here!”

Ryuhei sat back down, raising his brow to Hiroshi, still with the same grin on his face.  
“Wait, guess we’re gonna have to get our asses in gear. I’m pretty sure Mitsuru’s ‘bout to win,” he said, looking around again for a real target this time.

Mitsuru had spotted Izumi Kanai too, as she was standing in line to buy herself an energy drink. She yawned, clearly already tired with the day, despite it only being middle period. Lost in her own thoughts, she did not notice Mitsuru approaching her before he cut through the line to get next to her.  
“Err, hey,” he said, causing Izumi to jump slightly. She looked up at him, her cheeks turning slightly pink.  
“H-Hello?” she replied, curious as to what he would want. They rarely spoke much, and he always seemed to catch her when she was feeling her most awkward. Like now, when she had been busy daydreaming.  
Mitsuru could feel himself blush too, already regretting letting himself be so easily teased into partaking in this. Izumi had no clue about the bet, so to her, this would just sound like he was asking her out for real. Which was kind of the point, of course, but asking her out had been something he had never thought he would find the courage to do. Doing it as a dare made it feel easier somehow, but still, not any less nerve-wrecking.  
  
“You’re tired, huh?” Mitsuru asked, nodding to the energy drink in her hand. Izumi glanced down at it, smiling nervously.  
“Oh. I suppose. Wednesday’s are always so long,” she said, engaging in the small-talk. “Well, they feel long. Maybe because it’s the middle of the week. So, I am just ready for –“  
“- Listen,” Mitsuru stopped her as she began nervously rambling. Izumi stopped talking, looking up at him curiously, her eyes wide. Mitsuru cleared his throat, continuing.  
“It’s ‘kay if ya don’t wanna. Obviously. But, if ya _do_ wanna, maybe one day we should grab somethin’ to eat or see a movie or somethin’…” he said, speaking quickly as if wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. He did not manage to look directly at her, instead glancing at the register coming up to his right.  
Izumi’s eyes widened even further, her cheeks going from pink to crimson red.  
“ _Oh_ ,” she whispered, her heart beating heavily against her chest. “That… Oh. Y-Yes. Of course. I mean, yes, I… Yes,” she said, clutching onto her energy drink so hard it almost dented.  
  
Mitsuru could not believe she had said yes. So easily. Although he was still furiously blushing, he at least managed to look at her now.  
“For real?! Awesome. Uhm, I’ll get back to ya with the time and place, is that ‘kay?” he asked, too stunned to think straight.  
Izumi smiled timidly, nodding ever so slightly.  
“Mhm. Yes… That’s very alright,” she whispered, biting her bottom lip.  
“Ahem. Are any of you buying anything?” a voice spoke up from behind them in line. Toshinori Oda was glaring at Mitsuru, annoyed at this hold-up by the delinquent, who he fully blamed for it all.  
“There are other people waiting.”  
Mitsuru gave Izumi a quick smile, letting her finish her purchase, as he made his way back to his friends’s table. That had been so much easier than he expected. Why had he not done that before?

He stopped before reaching the table, realizing both Ryuhei and Hiroshi were gone. He assumed they had run off somewhere to attempt to win the bet, and he could only hope they were not doing anything too disastrous.  
He did not exactly feel reassured when he spotted Ryuhei by the table were the Neutral girls were sitting, chatting them up. Mitsuru took a beeline over to the table, a concerned expression on his face.  
“Soo… What’d ya say, Rep?” He could hear Ryuhei say as he reached then, with most of the girls giggling quietly. The exception was Haruka Tanizawa, who looked completely unamused, and Yukie Utsumi, who was smiling, though clearly confused.  
“Are you really asking me out? Sasagawa-kun, this is… Well… I don’t know what to say,” she laughed, looking at her friends as if wanting some advice.  
“Well. You can say no,” Haruka suggested, not looking up from her lunch. Yuka Nakagawa laughed, giving Yukie a wink.  
“No way. It’s about time you had a hot date, Yukie. Live a little,” she pushed her gently. Yukie looked back up at Ryuhei, who was waiting patiently.  
“I mean… I guess… Why not?” Yukie finally responded. She did her best not to look too uncertain, but in reality, she probably said yes more to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. She figured she might agree this once, and then let him down easily. She had her heart set on someone else, after all.  
Ryuhei nodded, pleased with himself and his charms.  
“Ya won’t regret it. Trust me,” he said, though Yukie did not look too convinced, despite the smile on her face.  
“No, I’m… I’m looking forward to it,” she insisted, laughing slightly.

Mitsuru gave the girls a polite smile, as he tugged Ryuhei away.  
“So, did I win?!” Ryuhei asked in a whisper, poking Mitsuru’s ribs. Mitsuru jumped away slightly.  
“Nah,” he whispered back. “Kanai already said yes.” He could not keep a proud smile off his face as he said this.  
Ryuhei grinned. “Good for ya, man. Guess we gotta find Hiroshi and tell him he lost, as expected.”  
Mitsuru nodded, chuckling. “What a shock. D’ya know where he went?”  
Shaking his head, Ryuhei checked his phone in case he had gotten a text or anything from their friend.  
“Nah. Have no idea who he’d even consider tryin’ his luck with. We don’t got any blind chicks in our class, do we?”

* * *

Hiroshi did in fact have someone in mind. As far as his classmates went, there was not anyone who had really caught his eye. Except for one girl.  
Yoshimi Yahagi was a delinquent like himself, and part of Mitsuko Souma’s gang. However, unlike Mitsuko and Hirono Shimizu, the other member of their group, Yoshimi was not really intimidating in any way. She always seemed kind of… sweet. For some reason, Hiroshi had a hard time imagining her laughing in his face if he did ask her out.  
There was that small detail of her dating Yoji Kuramoto (as far as he knew, unless they broke up again, which might very well be the case). But those kind of details were easily ignored by Hiroshi.

As expected, he found the girls hanging out by the bleachers, a typical hangout spot when you wanted to smoke during breaks. His own gang often hid around there too.  
Hiroshi could hear Mitsuko talk in a hushed voice as he got closer, but it seemed like none of them had spotted him yet. The first one to be aware of his presence was Hirono, who scrunched her nose as she saw him, sighing deeply.  
“Mitsu. Some loser is here,” she said in a bored tone. She assumed the irrelevant member of the Kiriyama Family might have been sent on a mission to borrow some cigarettes or buy some harder stuff.  
Mitsuko might have been under the same impression, because she looked at Hiroshi with an intrigued expression.  
“Yes? What do you want?” she asked, her tone sweet in an unnatural kind of way. Yoshimi looked at him curiously too, but said nothing, only exhaling some smoke.  
  
Hiroshi looked at all of them, his eyes landing on Yoshimi and staying there.  
“Actually, I sorta got somethin’ to as Yahagi. If we can talk for like, a second,” he said; just like Ryuhei, he was not too nervous. He figured there was nothing to lose, and everything to win, if this meant he could prove to his friends that he could in fact get someone to go out with him.  
“It won’t take long!”  
Now, the girls were even more curious. Despite the two groups being known as the class delinquents, they rarely interacted with each other. Yoshimi and Hiroshi in particular hardly spoke to anyone outside their groups, as they were too busy trying to prove their worth to their friends to really branch out.  
“Uhm. Sure?” Yoshimi said, realizing after a moment that she should probably respond. She shrugged to her friends and stumped her cigarette, coming out from under the bleachers and walking a few steps away with Hiroshi.  
“What’s up?” she asked, her tone light.  
Hiroshi was not quite sure how to approach this, but figured it would be too complicated if he was going to pretend to be smooth. He might as well just get straight to the point.  
“Yahagi,I think you’re like… A pretty cool chick! And… Maybe we could hang out sometime!” he blurted out. It was not like that was even a lie.

Yoshimi blinked slowly, raising an eyebrow.  
“Waaait. Hold on. Are you asking me out on a _date_?!” she yelled as it hit her what was going on. She was loud enough for Mitsuko and Hirono to overhear, and Hirono immediately burst out laughing at this absurdity.  
Hiroshi found himself feeling a little more insecure after her (and Hirono’s) reaction.  
“Eh. Yeah. I guess?” he said, scratching the back of his head.  
“Kuronaga-kun… You know I’m dating Yo-chan, right?” Yoshimi asked, frowning slightly. Though… It was true she and Yoji were involved in a pretty big fight at the moment. Yoshimi had looked through his list of “Following” on a certain social media app, and discovered there were a lot of half-naked female models on that list. Like, _a lot_ a lot. She had now gone almost fifteen hours without talking to him, and truth be told, she was in the mood to get back at him a little.

Before Hiroshi could respond, she added:  
“You know what? _Sure!_ ” Yoshimi said, nodding eagerly. “We totally should go out.”  
_And we should post it all over social media and crush Yo-chan’s heart,_ she thought, rubbing her hands together.  
Now it was Hiroshi’s turn to look surprised.  
“Yeah? Even though you got a boyfriend?” he asked. She had seemed so stunned at first, and he did not really understand what had changed. Not that he cared much.  
Yoshimi waved a hand in front of her face. “Yeah, whatever. Screw that guy! We can still hang out, right? What do you wanna do? We should get ice cream! The ice cream parlour near the burger place is so good. Let’s go there after school! Oh, this is perfect!”  
She was a fast talker, and Hiroshi only nodded, trying to keep up with everything.  
_Ice cream. After school. Perfect._ He managed to mentally note down the most important things.  
“Awesome! I’ll see ya later then, Yahagi!” he agreed, excited to be able to return to his friends and tell them he had actually managed to get a date. That would show them.

Yoshimi felt a little bad as Hiroshi ran off, looking so excited. She felt bad using him to make Yoji jealous, but… Part of her also thought the two of them might possibly have a good time. They might have something in common, being the more forgotten members of their groups. Biting her lip, she hoped she had not made a big mistake, allowing herself to get involved in this situation.

* * *

Hiroshi had not had time to share his success with his friends before the start of the next class. It was not until the end of the day where he could finally boast about his date with Yoshimi.  
“Oh yeah? But this was at the end of the break, right?” Ryuhei asked, his eyes playful.  
“So what?” Hiroshi asked, looking at the two of them. Mitsuru shrugged, with a cocky smile.  
“Just… Me and Ryuhei already had dates by then. And I scored mine first. So… Ya still lost, Hiroshi,” he teased him, also unable to hide the pride he felt. Despite this whole thing just being a stupid bet.  
  
Hiroshi stared at them.  
“I lost?! The fuck!” he exclaimed, sighing deeply. Ryuhei pet his head, laughing as he made a poor attempt of comforting him.  
“Yeah. Even when ya win, you’re still the loser of this group. At least ya got a date for once, right? More than we ever expected,” he teased him.  
“Ugh! Who cares? It was just a dumbass dare ‘nyway,” Hiroshi groaned, crossing his arms grumpily. Yes, sure he was happy to have scored a date at all, but he could not believe he had somehow come last. After Ryuhei?! _Insane_.  
  
Behind the boys, someone cleared their throat.  
“So… This was a dare, was it?” Yukie asked, with an amused smile on her face. She and Izumi had located the boys to discuss the details of their dates. The two of them had been rather suspicious that they had both been asked out by members of the Kiriyama Family on the same day, but had decided to hear them out about it before jumping to any conclusions. Whilst Yukie looked somewhat relieved to now have a reason to get out of this obligation, Izumi just stared at the three boys blankly. After a moment, she managed to force a very small smile.  
“Ah,” she said weakly, avoiding Mitsuru’s eyes. “It was a joke?”  
  
Mitsuru shook his head, slightly panicked-looking.  
“No! It was a dumb bet, but it wasn’t like, a _joke_ …” he began to explain, his face growing redder by the second. Ryuhei and Hiroshi watched this pitiful display with very little sympathy, trying hard not to snicker.  
“…Dumb?” Izumi repeated, blinking.  
“Nah, I mean – “ Mitsuru started once again, but Yukie only hook her head with a small laugh.  
“Oh, nevermind, Numai-kun! I think we can survive this rejection. You can move onto your next dare now,” she said with a little wave of her hand.  
Izumi did not look like she would as easily survive the rejection, yet Yukie seemed oblivious to this. She put a hand on her shorter friend’s shoulder, beginning to lead her off in the opposite direction of the boys.  
“Let’s go tell Haruka the dates are off,” Yukie whispered to Izumi as they walked. “She will be so relieved. She seemed a little worried about it…”

Ryuhei waved casually at the girls walking away, as Mitsuru just looked stunned by what had just happened.  
“Well, shit,” he mumbled under his breath, his cheeks gradually returning to their usual tan colour. Ryuhei finally felt like it was safe to let out a loud laugh.  
“I know, right?! We sure fucked that up! Don’t think I’ll have a chance with Utsumi again,” he grinned, not too bothered. If anything, he found the whole situation kind of hilarious.  
Hiroshi joined in laughing too.  
“Too fuckin’ bad for ya losers! So we can all totally agree the winner is the only guy who still got a date?” he beamed.  
Mitsuru glared at both of them, completely unamused, as Ryuhei patted Hiroshi’s back.  
“Yeah. Ya win by default, man. Proud?” he teased him.  
Hiroshi just nodded. “Hell yeah! I’ll take it!” he agreed, happy just to win anything for once.

“Maybe someone should tell Yahagi ‘bout the dare too and we can forget ‘bout this whole thing?” Mitsuru suggested bitterly.  
As if on cue, Yoshimi called out to them as she approached coming out of the cafeteria.  
“Kuronaga-kun! I’m ready for some ice-cream!” she laughed, waving happily.  
Hiroshi raised his hand in a greeting, smiling sheepishly.  
“Yeah? Ya wanna go right away?” he asked eagerly. Almost forgetting about the dare and his win, he found himself excited just to spend some more time with Yoshimi.  
Similarly, Yoshimi had wanted Yoji to see her have this discussion with Hiroshi, but even though he was absent right now, she did not mind. She was excited for the date too, even if it was a fake one to her. She could only hope Hiroshi would not be too invested.  
“Sure. Why wait?” she agreed, smiling brightly. Mitsuru and Ryuhei exchanged glances, as if considering whether they should try to ruin this bliss or not.  
“Y’know, Yahagi,” Mitsuru said, clicking his tongue. Hiroshi stared at him, his eyes pleading him not to go on.  
“… I hope the two of ya have a great time and stuff. Have him home by midnight?” Mitsuru joked, deciding against being an asshole.  
Ryuhei grinned too. “And remember, this lil’ shit is a virgin, so go easy on him,” he added in, having to add in _some_ kind of humiliation.

Hiroshi took a swing at Ryuhei’s arm, though not putting much strength into it. Yoshimi however, just laughed, despite feeling slightly uncomfortable at the comment.  
“I’ll try to behave, pinky swear!” she said, making a cross motion over her heart.  
Yoshimi gave Hiroshi a nod with her head as if gesturing they should go, before turning around on her heels. Before turning to leave with her, Hiroshi made a subtle move with his hand, reaching it out so Mitsuru and Ryuhei could put some money into it.  
“Pay up, bitches,” Hiroshi mouthed silently, making sure Yoshimi did not notice. Mitsuru rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Ryuhei again tried to stifle a chuckle, giving Hiroshi as much change as possible to make it harder to be discreet.  
“Thanks, losers,” Hiroshi whispered, pocketing the money as he ran off after Yoshimi.  
“Wait up, Yahagi! Don’t start eatin’ any without me!” he called after the girl, running to catch up with her.

Mitsuru and Ryuhei remained, watching them disappear.  
“I can’t fuckin’ believe Hiro is the first one of us to go on a date,” Mitsuru mumbled, still in disbelief.  
Ryuhei shrugged. “Doesn’t really count. She’s got a boyfriend.”  
“Still… Sorta embarrassin’,” Mitsuru replied, annoyed with how this had turned out. Ryuhei grinned, putting an arm around his friend’s shoulder.  
“Aww. Mitsu. We can go on an ice cream date too! Ya want that? My treat! It’ll be the best first date ever,” he joked, pinching Mitsuru’s cheek.

“Shut up!” Mitsuru whined, pulling away from him.  
“We can share a cup and feed each other scoops and shit?”  
“ _Shut uuup._ I’d rather fuckin’ die single!”

* * *

When Yoshimi and Hiroshi were enjoying themselves at the ice cream parlour barely thirty minutes later, Yoshimi looked up with a confused frown.

“Hey, Kuronaga-kun…?” she asked, her tone curious.  
“Yeah? Ain’t this the best?!” Hiroshi asked, too busy digging into his chocolate fudge ice cream to see what she had noticed.  
“Is that… Numai-kun and Sasagwa-kun sharing a sundae in the booth by the corner?!” Yoshimi exclaimed, bursting out laughing at the sight of the two boys, with Mitsuru still looking miserable and Ryuhei looking like he was having a blast.

Hiroshi turned around to take a look, raising his eyebrows. “Huh. Guess it is.”  
Taking a couple of more spoons of his ice cream, he added: “’Least they got each other.”  
_Even though they’re losers, at least they ain’t alone_ , he thought to himself, snickering.


End file.
